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Halo: Reach
"From the beginning, you know the end." : ''- Halo Reach tagline 'Halo Reach 'or simply 'Reach, is a first person shooter science fiction video game developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. However, due to the Xbox One's lack of backwards compatibility, it cannot be played on its successor console. It is a spinoff from the main trilogy, taking place just before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved (a chronological time difference of a month). It serves as a de-facto prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo Reach ''was released on September 14, 2010, and was announced alongside ''Halo 3 ODST a year before. Halo Reach quickly retook the franchise's massive success, eclipsing Halo 3's record of $170 million with its own release of $200 million within the first week, managing to sell over 8 million copies. It has been considered one of the most revolutionary Halo ''games to date, containing almost all the content found in previous games. On November 27, 2013, ''Halo Reach, alongside Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, was rereleased in the Halo Origins Bundle. Story Plot ''Halo Reach's'' ' campaign is similiar to ''Halo 3 ODST' '''in that it is based only on one world, and follows the story of a squad of soldiers' ('Halo Reach's case, it is not a squad of ODSTs, but a squad of Spartan-IIIs called Noble Team. Unlike ODST, however, the other squad members are not playable. Noble Six serves as the game's primary protagonist). Halo Reach ''is possibly the most militaristic out of the games, and also seems to be the only ''Halo ''game where the protagonists are actually defeated (in every other game, the protagonist is victorious, whether through battle or escaping one). This is likely because, from the start of the franchise, the fanbase already knew the fate of the colony of Reach, and that its destruction was inevitable. ''Halo Reach ''is much more melancholic than the previous games, and details the Fall of Reach during the Human-Covenant War, which indirectly led to the discovery of the Halo rings, and to the eventual downfall of the Covenant. The game starts by showing Reach after its glassing, where we also observe the cracked helmet of Noble Six sitting in the dust. Skip back to events before the Fall of Reach, and we see Noble Six in a Warthog heading towards an outpost on Reach. When he arrives, he is introduced to his new team (as he is replacing a deceased squad member) before being dropped into a briefing held by Colonel Urban Holland. The colonel explains that a relay outpost at Visegrad has dropped out of contact, and that they believe the local Insurrection to be responsible. Carter-A259, the commanding officer of Noble Team, accepts the mission and welcomes Six to the squad, before they all depart on Falcons to Visegrad. Arriving at Visegrad, a little town in the Highland Mountains of the Eposz continent, Noble Team immediately find themselves unable to contact their headquarters. Deploying, they investigate the area to find signs of battle, but no bodies. Eventually, they come across a few villagers, one of which states he saw something kill his son. They press on to find two dead UNSC army troopers, hung up interrogation style. After minutes of trying to locate any evidence of Insurrectionist activity, they come across hostile contacts; and its the Covenant. Shocked by the sudden change of events, Noble Team presses onwards towards the outpost, breaking through Covenant forces occupying the area. They eventually manage to secure the outpost, reopening Reach's interstellar communications and allowing Carter to warn Holland of the Covenant presence on Reach. With this in mind, Holland puts the WINTER CONTINGENCY emergency plan into action. Later, Noble Team is redeployed to Sword Base, an ONI facility in the Babd Catha Ice Shelf within Eposz, where the facility is under siege from a Covenant SDV-Class Heavy Corvette. Deploying in the courtyard, Kat-B320 and Noble Six secure the area. With the courtyard secured, Kat and Six quickly left for Farragut Station, reactivating a COM array. They then went to Airview Base, reactivating an AA gun to help clear the skies of Covenant aircraft. Once done, they return to Sword Base and regroup with the rest of Noble Team, moving inside the facility and helping UNSC forces clear the facility of Covenant ground forces. They proceed to the top of the base, where Six helps Emile-A239 take out any Covenant air in the area. Once done, the two of them watch as the corvette tries to escape, only to be hit by an orbital MAC round, destroying it instantly. Later, after the battle, Noble Team is called in by Dr. Halsey, who reprimands Carter for not pursuing the Elites at the Visegrad Relay. She explains that they were likely part of an artifact retrieval team, and likely had stolen valuable information. Kat reveals that she confiscated some of the information, before giving it to Halsey. After, Noble Team leaves, with Halsey inspecting her new data intently. Later, at nighttime, Noble Six and Jun-A266 are deployed to the Szurdok Ridge in the Viery Territory to scout out Covenant positions and to find out the extent of the Covenant incursion. Using stealth tactics in a strictly recon role, Jun and Six are able to sneak past or neutralize most of the Covenant entrenchments, even planting a bomb on a pylon, which is stated to be the source of a dark zone. They manage to hold off significant Covenant opposition while doing this, but succeed, retreating to the end of the ridge. From there, they stumble upon a massive Covenant armada being set up, with large fortifications and armies being deployed from an unknown source. With their mission complete, Jun and Six quietly extract, ready for the morning's assault. The next morning, the UNSC launches a massive ground and air assault upon the Covenant strike force, utilizing huge amounts of Scorpions, Warthogs and Falcons. Cutting through the Viery Territory, the UNSC forces hope to hit the Covenant hard and fast, clearing them out and ridding them of their landing zone. The Covenant meet them in force, with a massive force of Ghosts, Banshees, Wraiths, Revenants and Scarabs. Forced to break off, Kat and Six are cut off from the rest of the army, and forced to proceed on foot, engaging numerous Covenant lances on the ground. Through the help of sections of the UNSC assault force, Kat and Six manage to locate and destroy numerous AA batteries, allowing two UNSC frigates and a squadron of Longswords to break through and smash a large section of the Covenant defenses, including three Scarabs. After destroying one final AA gun, Jorge-052 meets up with Six in a Falcon and they cut across the battlefield to take out a Covenant Spire, hoping to find the source of the Covenant incursion. Their Falcon is disabled by the Spire's shield, but, by proceeding on foot, they both manage to disable the Spire's shield and escape on another Falcon, retreating to a safe distance as one of the two frigates, [[UNSC Grafton|UNSC ''Grafton]], uses its MAC gun to destroy the Spire. It is then revealed that the Spire was actually powering the active camouflage of the gargantuan Covenant CSO-Class Supercarrier, Long Night of Solace. Shortly after being revealed, the supercarrier fires its energy projector, destroying the Grafton ''instantly, before later escaping into orbit of the planet. Noble Team regroups in an unknown location, trying to think of a way to deal with the supercarrier. Kat forms her own plan, hoping to rig a slipspace drive into an explosive device, and delivering it to the supercarrier. The resulting explosion would transport half the colossal vessel to oblivion. Carter asks how she plans to even get it there, when she reveals that she is aware of the UNSC's classified prototype Sabres, and that using them would be extremely effective in taking down the supercarrier. Carter contacts Holland about the plan, but is extremely doubtful that he'll permit it. A few hours later, Noble Team arrives at Farkas Lake in Eposz, where the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range is located. The supercarrier is already assaulting the base, with air strikes being launched and troops deployed via dropship and orbit. Noble Team cuts through the edge of the lake, breaking through and reaching the facility. Inside, they clear out any hostiles that got inside with the help of army troopers, before moving into the main facility. The rest of Noble stays behind while Jorge and Six enter one of the Sabres, launching with the rest into orbit. They quickly move into position around the refit and repair station ''Anchor 9, where the frigate [[UNSC Savannah|UNSC Savannah]] is docked, and having its slipspace drive removed for the mission. However, the station soon comes under attack from Covenant air forces, and Six, with the other Sabres, defends the station until its defenses come online. Later, now capable of defending itself, ''Anchor 9'' helps clear up the remainder of the Covenant squadrons, and the Sabre docks with the station to allow Jorge to get to the Pelican 'holding the slipspace drive. Six quickly departs as the Pelican docks with the Savannah, of which offers assistance in the mission. All ready, the group makes best speed towards their target. They quickly arrive on the other side of the planet, where the SDV-Class Heavy Corvette, ''Ardent Prayer, is waiting. They quickly ambush the corvette, with the Sabres disabling its engines and managing to fight off returning patrols. With the corvette unable to escape, the Sabres land on its hull, and Six leads a squad of army troopers into the ship, clearing out any Covenant in the ship's hangar. Once done, the Pelican deploys with the slipspace drive, and Jorge and Six proceed to the bridge. On the way however, the corvette's defenses overwhelm and destroy the Savannah, forcing them to hurry. They kill the command crew and set the ship on a refueling course for the Long Night of Solace, giving them their delivery. Returning to the hangar, they find the Pelican under attack from the Covenant. They manage to repel the counterattack, but the bomb is damaged during the battle, and can only be detonated manually. Jorge declares his intent to detonate it, grabbing Six and throwing him out of the ship before he can object. Jorge then sacrifices his life and detonates the bomb as the Ardent Prayer ''as it docks with the supercarrier, vaporizing the corvette instantly and scything the ''Long Night of Solace ''in half. Six is only able to watch on as he is caught in Reach's atmosphere and continues to fall. However, only moments later, a massive Covenant fleet arrives, thousands of ships, in orbit of Reach, and the Fall of Reach finally begins. Six awakens after his fall to the sight of the supercarrier's wreckage, and quickly limps away in a random direction. This takes him to the city of New Alexandria, where four SDV-Class Heavy Corvettes are currently bombarding it. Six moves into the city, quickly linking up with forces from the UNSC Army and helping evacuate civilians from Traxus Tower. However, the evacuation is unable to take place, as one of the corvettes has moved above the tower, shutting off all attempts to evacuate. However, with the help of some of ODSTs from the Bullfrog unit, they manage to capture an executive landing pad, allowing civilians to evacuate via Pelican. Not long after, Six gets in a Falcon, and is transported across the city, where he watches numerous examples of the Covenant overrunning the city, and even watches a civilian evacuation ship get shot down by a corvette, crashing into the ocean and sinking. Landing on a beachhead, Six helps Sergeant Duvall reinitiate UNSC missile batteries. They successfully clear the area long enough to activate the missile batteries, which fire and cripple the corvette's weaponry, allowing the remaining evacuation transports to slip past and escape the city. Not long after, Kat contacts Six, who informs her that Jorge is dead, and later pops a flare so they can find him and extract him. Later, at nighttime, the Covenant have practically devastated New Alexandria, and now CCS-Class Battlecruisers have moved into orbit over the city to begin glassing it. Noble Six reunites with Carter, who sends him on a mission to aid UNSC forces in escaping the city ruins and in taking out Covenant jammers located throughout the area. Using a Falcon, Six coordinates with Kat, and manages to locate and destroy the jammers successfully. However, when Kat receives orders from Colonel Holland that all forces are to be evacuated through the Office of Naval Intelligence Headquarters building, Six is ordered back to assist. This becomes even more urgent when Covenant forces begin an aerial siege of the tower, which is soon broken by the timely arrival of Six, and all surviving forces are able to evacuate, and Six is able to land and regroup with Noble Team. Noble Team convenes, only to receive new orders from Holland that they are to be redeployed back to Sword Base in a mission to destroy it. However, the transmission draws the attention of the Covenant, and a CCS-Class Battlecruiser fires its energy projector right next to the tower, beginning to glass it. The radiation spike cripples all their energy shields instantly, and Noble Team flees the room as they try to reach a radiation bunker. Just as they reach it however, an Elite Field Marshal on a overhead Phantom manages to hit Kat in the back of the head with its Needle Rifle, killing Kat instantly. She dies in Six's arms as the rest of Noble Team opens fire, but the Phantom escapes. They drag her body inside as the glassing beam continues to destroy the building. Later, they emerge from the wreckage, where a transport is moving to pick them up. Carter then emerges, cradling Kat's body in his arms. Later, Noble Team, supported by a modicum of UNSC forces, redeploys to Sword Base in a torch-and-burn op to destroy the facility and prevent the Covenant from gaining any information they can use to their advantage. They manage to fight their way into Sword Base, where they proceed inside and clear it of Covenant hostiles. They push through to the pre-assigned coordinates, only to find nothing. Confused, the team is about to leave when Auntie Dot informs them that new, revised coordinates are leading underground. Finding a excavation tunnel, Noble Team travels deep into a deep underground cavern, where they are contacted by Halsey and revealed the true nature of their mission; to assist her in escape and to allow her to retrieve her findings on the Forerunner ruins. Arriving, Noble Team uses Wolf Spider Turrets to defend the lab, and manages to hold off numerous waves of Covenant troops. Once allowed inside, Noble Team meets Halsey once more, and is introduced to Cortana, an AI with her personal personality implant. Halsey declares she has made a discovery that could change the course of the war. Taking Cortana, she places her in a data storage unit, before giving her to Noble Six to transport to the [[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|UNSC ''Pillar of Autumn]]. She then leaves on a Pelican for CASTLE Base, with Jun as her escort. Carter, Six and Emile then deploy on a separate Pelican, of which Carter pilots personally, and head for the Aszod Shipbreaking Yards, where the Autumn is docked. Noble Team arrive at Aszod, but their Pelican is badly damaged from Covenant pursuers, and Carter badly wounded. Emile and Six decidedly leap from the Pelican while Carter keeps the enemy air forces distracted, allowing Emile and Six to continue on foot towards the shipbreaking yards. From there, they acquire a vehicle and manage to break through the Covenant forces in the area, and even evade a few passing Scarabs. However, they eventually come across a Scarab that they cannot avoid. Before it can kill them however, Carter appears, slamming his Pelican into the Scarab and killing himself, but sending the Scarab careening off the cliff into the area below. Emile and Six continue to the shipbreaking yards, and help UNSC Army forces fight off Covenant troops. Punching through, they eventually reach the landing pad, where Emile takes control of an Onager and clears the skies, while Six deals with any enemy forces that manage to get through on the ground. Eventually, Captain Keyes arrives on a Pelican and Six gives him Cortana. But before Six can get on the Pelican with him, a Phantom appears, shooting down the escort and quickly deploying a squad of Elites at the mass driver. Emile manages to kill one, but is then killed by a second, but not before killing the second as well. With a CCS-Class Battlecruiser looming above, Six decides to stay behind and use the Onager to buy them sometime to escape. Fighting back through the facility, Six utilizes the Onager to cripple the battlecruiser's energy projector, allowing the Pillar of Autumn to escape into orbit. Six simply watches as the ship moves into the atmosphere. The game ends the same way Halo: Combat Evolved begins; with the Pillar of Autumn entering orbit over Alpha Halo, and Keyes asking Cortana whether or not Reach was lost. The credits then roll as the Autumn continues to fly towards the ring. After the credits, the game cuts back to Six on Reach, still in Aszod, watching Phantoms fly by. Eventually, Six is forced to engage Covenant forces while Reach is glassed around him, and he fights to the death. Eventually, Six is overwhelmed by seven Elites, and is killed. The scene cuts to Six's helmet, cracked, and lying in the dust, just like at the start of the game. It then cuts to 37 years later in 2589, where Reach has been restored to a habitable state, and a colony ship can be seen in the background, but Six's helmet remains present. Campaign